Why did Isaac Newton invent the cat flap? How did the first mousetrap come about? Why did it take nearly 20 years to develop sliced bread? From the moment the alarm clock wakes us up in the morning until the time we switch the light off at night, we are surrounded by things that make modern life possible—microwaves, televisions, cars, cell phones, credit cards—yet were unknown until someone dreamed them up. Here the author of Black Cats and April Fools and March Hares and Monkeys' Uncles gives us some of the intriguing and amusing stories behind such now-ubiquitous objects and inventions.